


pardon the dust while this all settles in

by Kroolea



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Burials, Canonical Character Death, Grief/Mourning, Heavy Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:00:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24085501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kroolea/pseuds/Kroolea
Summary: When the last brother is buried Rex finally allows himself to cry. Ahsoka stands beside him, her head is bowed and her eyes closed."Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum."
Comments: 2
Kudos: 56





	pardon the dust while this all settles in

**Author's Note:**

> So I started editing this and then cried so thats how angsty this is. ;)
> 
> Mando'a translations
> 
> Vod - brother
> 
> Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum. - A daily remembrance of those passed on, it means "I'm still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal."
> 
> I think this is a beautiful and bittersweet rite and would love to learn to say it properly and recite it myself.
> 
> Last thing I promise.  
> Aside from Jesse I don't know what clones with Rex and Ahsoka were still alive by the time Order 66 was called so I googled people in the 501st and picked the ones that it saif hadn't died yet.

It take two days straight to find every single one of the _vod._

Rex and Ahsoka carefully pull their mangled bodies from the wreckage and bury them. It's a way to show proper respect, an apology of sorts.

Most clones didn't get burials.

Ahsoka doesn't dwell on the irony of it all. The clones that die serving and protecting the Jedi get nothing more than a moment of silence. The clones that betray the Jedi get a decent burial.

Rex hasn't stopped shaking since the order had been given. He can hide it when he had his hands busy but he hasn't been able to stop.

Ahsoka wonders if it will be a permanent thing or if it's just a temporary side effect.

He hasn't slept. Neither of them have.

Ahsoka is uncharacteristically silent. Her eyes are rimmed red and the bags under her eyes are nearly black.

When the last brother is buried Rex finally allows himself to cry. Ahsoka stands beside him, her head is bowed and her eyes closed.

" _Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum."_ She murmurs. It's an oddly familiar rite. One that Rex and many other clones have done for years.

"Jesse."

"Coric."

"Ayar."

The list goes on but they faithfully finish reciting every name of the troopers that had died in this crash. Rex wants to keep going, to list Fives and Tup and Charger and Hevy, good men who died in a war doomed to fail from the start, but night is drawing near so the two head back to the small camp they set up after crashing.

"They're all gone." Ahsoka says in a hushed tone as she watches Rex start the fire.

Rex doesn't need to be told to know she's talking about the Jedi.

"Did any survive?" He asks.

Ahsoka shakes her head numbly. She knows that logical some are probably still alive but she can't feel them like she used to be able to. It was like someone doused a blazing fire with water.

Ahsoka feels tears slide down her face, she squeezes her eyes shut.

The sobs finally begin to surface. They burn her throat and her eyes.

Rex stands from where he is tending to the fire. He bows his head.

" _Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum._ " He begins the chant. She looks up, confused.

"Anakin." He adds and a look of understanding crosses her face. He crouches back down to continue building the fire.

"Obi-Wan."

"Plo."

"Aayla."

"Windu."

This list takes even longer and it's mentally exhausting. They only have listed a small amount of the Jedi they knew but the numbers of the dead are starting to sink in.

Rex can feel the weariness sinking into his bones and he stands.

"I'm going to sleep." He tells her. She nods. She is wrapped in her hood and is staring into the small fire blankly. There are dried tear tracks on her face but she has long since stopped crying.

She nods. "I'll keep watch."

She knows there's not much to watch for. This moon is eerily quiet and she would know if a ship was in orbit long before it landed.

Rex seems to take comfort in that and he lays out on the ground.

She looks at the stars and breathes.

She can tell Rex is asleep by the way his breath evens out and how he stops trembling.

They will need to go their separate ways but the thought makes her heart ache.

They had only just been reunited.

The next morning the fire has smoldered into a pile of smoking ash.

She is taking one last look at the rows of helmets.

She gently places a hand on Jesse's helmet.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You should have at least been with Kix when you died." She murmurs. She wonders if Kix is still alive or if he and Jesse can be happy together in death.

She leaves her lightsabers next to Jesse. She trusts him to guard them against scavengers. She mocks herself internally for such a silly thought but she walks away.

She and Rex part ways that day.

Every night for ten long years she repeats that Mandalorian mantra in remembrance.

She knows Rex does too.


End file.
